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Friday, November 17, 2006

Myanmar Is Left in Dark, an Energy-Rich Orphan - New York Times

Here is a story in NY TIMES about Burma/Myanmar: Still oppressive after all of these years. It has been 16 years since Myanmar's democratically elected leader was arrested and put under house arrest.

"The (Myanmar) government’s budget for its AIDS program in 2004 was $22,000, according to a recent health survey by John Hopkins University Medical School."

"In contrast to the deepening poverty — Myanmar’s per capita income is calculated at $175 a year, far below neighboring Bangladesh — the military leaders were amassing fortunes, people said.

The latest evidence was a video leaked to a Web site, www.irrawaddy.org, based in Thailand, of the recent opulent wedding of General Than Shwe’s daughter, Thandar Shwe. The video showed the bride, with her father alongside her, decked out in a necklace of six ropes of large diamonds, her hair looped with diamonds as well."